Index tab for guide cards



April 1953 R. s. DANIEL ETAL INDEX TAB FOR GUIDE CARDS Filed March 21,

INVENTORS ROBERT S DA N/EL MAXWELLS. FULCHER Arro w Patented Apr. 7, 1 953 UNITED; STATES PATENT JIVOFFICE Robert s. nan; Alexandria, Va., and Maxwell S. Fulcher, Washington, DrC.

Application March 21, 1950, serial No. 150,958

1 Claim. (Cl. 129 163} 'The present invention relates to improvements in .means designed to facilitate the filing, location and removal of office papers or the like in or from the drawers of file cabinets or other similar file repositories. V

More particularly, the present invention is concerned with improved means for holding and/or dividing card'files or folders that stand on edge in a drawer or the like, such means carrying readily visible tabs or the like for purposes of classification of the stored material.

An object of the present invention is to provide an index or classification tab that is slidable along the top of a partition and yet easily removable and replaceable without removal of the partition. :Another object of the present invention is the provisionrof a new and improved resilient clip device formounting the tab upon the partition. A-still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel and simple connection. between .a slidable file supporting and/or dividing member and a rod that is mounted longitudinally of the base of a cabinet drawer or the like, having means on the slidable member for frictionally holding it in adjusted position when it is slightly tilted.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of means adjacent the longitudinal edge of a file dividing device for engagement with a tab.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a tab slidable along the top of a file dividing device and having means for locking engagement with means adjacent the longitudinal edge of said file dividing device.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide new and improved file supporting and dividing members and index tabs, per se, as well as a novel and useful interconnection between said members and said tabs.

The foregoing and other objects of the present 7 invention should clearly appear from the following detailed description when studied in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the filing device and showing the adjustable tab and the slotted tongue.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view taken on line 22 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows, the broken line representing a tilted position;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the base portion taken on line 33 looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the slot in the base;

Figure '4 is an enlarged-sectional view taken on line '4-4 of Figure 1, a part being shown fragmentarily;

Figure 51s a rear elevational view of the adjustable tab; and

- Figure 6 Be partial fragmentary front view showing the device tilted back until the slot grips the guide rod. r Referring tothe drawing the numeral 7 designates an L'-shaped dividing and supporting member in its entirety, designed for use in a pullout cabinet drawer or its equivalent. The member 1 comprises a vertical plate 8 integrally joined to a horizontal base plate 9, the latter having a central elongated aperture 10 produced by striking out a pair of supporting feet l2 and 13 therefrom in spaced relationship. The feet .l2'and l3 'have'apertures l4 therein to connect them for free travel along a cylindrical rod l5 that conventionally forms a front-toback element of many types of file cabinet drawers now-in use. The paper ends of the apertures I4 are of semi-circular configuration and of a greater diameter than the diameter of the rod I5 so as to slide freely when pushed or pulled horizontally, but the lower ends of one or both, and especially, that of the foot l2 are tapered downwardly to a width slightly less than the rod diameter so that by tilting the member I slightly in a rearward direction it may be frictionally secured to the rod in any position of sliding adjustment. The tilted position is illustrated in broken lines in Figure 2', and in Figure 6, and in this view the L-shaped dividing member is shown fragmentarily. Hence this simple interconnection permits a plurality of cards or other papers that stand on edge upon the platform 9 to be loosened, viewed and repacked with ease and without the need of spring clamps or other extraneous devices that until now have been utilized to hold a slidable partition in adjusted position. As shown in Figure 6 when the L-shaped element is tilted rearwardly the tapering side walls grip the rod [5.

Adjacent the longitudinal edge of the plate 8 a plurality of equally spaced and horizontally aligned dimples I6 is provided, and they are preferably circular, in the form of protuberances pressed or stamped therefrom. A tab I! in the form of a clip is slipped onto the edge of the panel 8 for cooperation with the dimples I6. This tab is slidable along the upper edge of the panel and also is readily removable and replaceable vertically of the panel.

The tab member [1 comprises a pair of 111176.

grally joined, substantially parallel walls [8 and [9 designed to straddle the panel 8 and having a plurality (at least two) of dimples 20 and 22, respectively, complemental to the dimples l6 and spaced equally in alignment. The detents 20 receive the convex sides of the dimples l6, and the detents 22 frictionally slide into the concave sides of the dimples I6. To prevent distortional spreading of the clip wall [8 there is provided a pair of integral fingers 23 cut therefrom and bent backwardly around the lateral edges of the wall [9. In addition to holding the walls in properly spaced relationship these fingers also serve, (1) to strike the top edge of the panel 8 and thus properly position the tab when it is pressed-downwardly onto the panel, and (2) as asupport for an index or name card to be inserted in the U- shaped opening 24 at the top of the tab. If desired the fingers 23 may be eliminated and the edges welded together.

The opening 24 is faced by a window .25 through which an indexedeard (notshown) may be viewed. Also, preferably, the wall 19 has an opposite, smaller window 25, the two windOWS affording openings through which portions of the thumb and forefinger maybe inserted to facilitate insertion and removal of the index card.

The method of use of our improved device should now be fairly obvious. The tab [1 is readily clipped onto the upper edge of the panel 8 and slidable longitudinally thereof into frictionally fixed positions corresponding in number to the dimples 1.6. The entire member I and its associated tab can be moved forwardly and rearwardly to tighten or loosen a bundle .of material for convenient inspection, and frictionally locked in place by tilting the member 1 rearwardly.

It will be understood that the above description and the accompanying drawing comprehends only the general and preferred embodiment of our invention, and that various minor changes in details of construction may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the claim hereto appended.

What is claimed is:

A guide card for indexing the contents of a file comprising a substantially rectangular plate having a row of longitudinally spaced dimples adjacent one edge thereof, an index tab embracing the edge of the plate adjacent the row of dimples,

said index tab comprising a substantially U- shaped cliphaving opposite legs engaging opposite faces of the plate adjacent the row of dimples therein, and dimples in opposite legs of the clip for engaging opposite sides of the dimples in the'plate and holding the tab in adjusted positionon the plate, and fingers carried by opposite side edges of one leg of the U-shaped clip intermediate .the ends thereof, said fingers extending around opposite side edges of the opposite leg of the U-shaLped clip to form stops for engaging the adjacent edge of the plate and aligning the dimples carried by the clip with thosecarried by the plate .and .to .define with the .bight portion and the legs of the U-shaped clip an index card receiving chamber.

ROBERT S. DANIEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

